Alfred Kazin (1915-1998) was an American literary and cultural critic, essayist and historian. He was one of the most influential of New York intellectuals in the second half of the twentieth century, and belonged to the circle of writers and...
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Alfred Kazin (1915-1998) was an American literary and cultural critic, essayist and historian. He was one of the most influential of New York intellectuals in the second half of the twentieth century, and belonged to the circle of writers and thinkers associated with the Partisan Review. Kazin's best-known work of criticism was On Native Grounds (1942), his seminal study of American prose and fiction of the period 1890-1940, and is also wel-known for his three memoirs, A Walker in the City (1951), Starting Out in the Thirties (1965), and New York Jew (1978). In 1996 he was awarded the first Truman Capote Lifetime Achievement Award in Literary Criticism. As of 2014, the only other award winner was George Steiner. The archive contains typescripts of Kazin's essays, books, unpublished biographical sketches, and lectures; more than 75 personal and literary journals; 13 literary notebooks; personal, literary and financial correspondence; two commonplace notebooks; extensive subject and biography research files (including especially extensive files on Herman Melville, the Civil War, Harriet Beecher Stowe, slavery, and African-American literature); examinations and reading lists for undergraduate courses taught by Kazin; research files on a large number of American literary figures; page proofs; photographs; correspondence from over 60 persons (excluding fan mail), including writers, critics, cultural notables, intimate friends, and family members; and correspondence from Kazin to over 250 recipients, including over 60 letters to Judith Dunford (Kazin's third wife), dating from 1977 to 1982.
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Nathan "Nate" Salsbury (1846-1902) was producer and manager of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, a highly successful show business enterprise that toured the United States, Europe, and elsewhere from the 1880s well into the 20th century, and featured...
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Nathan "Nate" Salsbury (1846-1902) was producer and manager of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, a highly successful show business enterprise that toured the United States, Europe, and elsewhere from the 1880s well into the 20th century, and featured William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody. Born in Illinois in 1846, Nathan Salsbury entered the U. S. Army while still in his teens, first as a drummer boy and eventually as a soldier with the 89th Illinois Regiment of Infantry, fighting in Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas. After the war, he became an actor in various stock companies, appeared for a time with his own troupe, Salsbury's Troubadours, then retired from performing in 1887. Meanwhile, in 1883, Salsbury had been a key figure in the launch of Buffalo Bill's Wild West, an outdoor extravaganza that dramatized frontier life, built around the personality of onetime soldier, scout and hunter William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody (1846-1917). The show, which also starred sharpshooter Annie Oakley and, for one season, Chief Sitting Bull, was a worldwide success for many years, outlasting its producer and manager Nate Salsbury, who died on Christmas Eve of 1902, at the age of 56. His daughter Rebecca Salsbury James (1891-1968) was an artist who lived for most of her life in Taos, New Mexico. Consists of a typescript of Nate Salsbury's reminiscences, much of which concerns his Civil War experiences, his life as a touring actor, and, briefly, his years with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. In addition to Salsbury's memoir, there are four folders of correspondence, mostly written to Rebecca Salsbury, although there is one telegram to Cody and Salsbury from actor Henry Irving. There is one letter dated 1917 to Rebecca's brother Milton Salsbury from actor James O'Neill, and a number of condolence letters to Rebecca upon Milton's death in August 1927, including one from James' son, playwright Eugene O'Neill. There is also a two-page account, written in 1943 by Wild West Show factotum Harry Tarleton, of a musical production Nate Salsbury mounted around 1895 called Black America, which featured an all African-American cast, and toured several cities in the U.S. before it disbanded.
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William Farrar Smith (1824-1903) was a civil engineer, a member of the New York City Police Commission, and a Union General in the American Civil War. James T. Brady (1815-1869) was a prominent lawyer and jurist in New York City. Smith and Brady...
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William Farrar Smith (1824-1903) was a civil engineer, a member of the New York City Police Commission, and a Union General in the American Civil War. James T. Brady (1815-1869) was a prominent lawyer and jurist in New York City. Smith and Brady were appointed to a presidential commission to investigate Major General Nathaniel Prentiss Banks. The collection consists of an official certified copy of a report made to the Secretary of War by General William F. Smith and James T. Brady on the civil and military administration in the military department bordering upon the west of the Mississippi dated September 23, 1865
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Mrs. Samuel Benjamin Washburn, whose husband served in the United States Navy during the American Civil War, kept this diary in 1862. Entries describe their domestic affairs in Bethany, Genesee County, New York and a trip to New York City from...
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Mrs. Samuel Benjamin Washburn, whose husband served in the United States Navy during the American Civil War, kept this diary in 1862. Entries describe their domestic affairs in Bethany, Genesee County, New York and a trip to New York City from April 2-21. The diary also includes references to military events
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The W. Ward Smith genealogical research papers contains William Ward Smith's genealogical notes, essays, clippings, charts, correspondence, ca. 1920s-1940s; original family letters and documents; and photographs relating to Smith's genealogical research on the Smith family of New York and New England, including the Smiths of Lyme, Conn., and the related Berrien, Cowenhoven, Eliot, Elwes, Leverich, Mather, Riker, Suydam, Trowbridge, Vandevoort, and Ward families. Notable content includes letters, 1816-1851, of Henry Elwes, a Catholic priest, including letters, 1834-1839, while at the English College, Rome, Italy, to his brother Alfred Elwes, a U.S. Army doctor at Fort Hamilton, Long Island, N.Y. (great-grandfather of W. Ward Smith) concerning family, health, personal, and political matters, as well as Elwes' work and training in the priesthood, and from the 1840s-1850s, when he was at Cossey Hall, Norwich, England, written to other family members. The collection also contain letters, 1886-1910, to Smith's grandfather, Albert Mather Smith, Engineer of Distribution for the Consolidated Gas Company of New York City concerning aspects of the gas, lighting, and power business. Photographs includes images of W. Ward Smith as a child, and his parents, Eliza Palmer Ward Smith, and Charles Albert Smith, in Garrison, N.Y. and elsewhere; also, a carte-de-visite of Captain Albert M. Smith, Baltimore, 1862, and two stereoscopic views, one of men of Co. D, 7th N.Y.N.G. at Camp Cameron, Washington D.C., 1861; and of officers of the 37th N.Y.S.M. at Capt. Albert M. Smith's tent, Camp Belger, Baltimore, Md., 1862.
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Watch, quarter, and station billet book of the U.S.S. Colorado, kept by the ship's executive officer probably during the period of the American Civil War. The name E[dgar] C. Merriman, U.S. Navy, is stamped on the flyleaf

Samuel Blatchley Webb (1753-1807) was a general with the American army during the Revolution and a founder of the Society of the Cincinnati. His son, James Watson Webb (1802-1884) was a soldier, publisher and diplomat. For three decades he...
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Samuel Blatchley Webb (1753-1807) was a general with the American army during the Revolution and a founder of the Society of the Cincinnati. His son, James Watson Webb (1802-1884) was a soldier, publisher and diplomat. For three decades he published the Morning Courier and New York Enquirer in New York City. In 1861 he sold his publishing interests to serve as U.S. minister to Brazil for eight years. Collection consists of correspondence and other papers of Samuel Blatchley Webb and his son, James Watson Webb. Bulk of Samuel Webb's papers is correspondence, 1777-1789, relating to financial matters, personal and family affairs, Shay's Rebellion, the Society of the Cincinnati, and the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Other materials include legal and business papers, 1773-1791; biographical sketch of Webb; and miscellaneous items. Papers of James Watson Webb consist mainly of correspondence, 1840-1882, when he was minister to Brazil, from his subordinate, James Monroe. Other correspondence concerns Webb's career as publisher and diplomat. Also, newsclippings about Webb and printed biographical sketch.
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William Hobart Royce (1878-1963) was a book collector and bibliographer of Brooklyn, N.Y. Collection consists of Royce's correspondence with Edgcumb Pinchon regarding Royce's research for Pinchon's book: Dan Sickles, Hero of Gettysburg and Yankee...
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William Hobart Royce (1878-1963) was a book collector and bibliographer of Brooklyn, N.Y. Collection consists of Royce's correspondence with Edgcumb Pinchon regarding Royce's research for Pinchon's book: Dan Sickles, Hero of Gettysburg and Yankee King of Spain (1945). Also, several accounts and miscellaneous items.
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Thomas Kinsella (1832-1884) was born in Ireland and settled in Brooklyn, N.Y. He was the editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle (known also as the Brooklyn Eagle) from 1861 until his death. He held various political offices including election to...
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Thomas Kinsella (1832-1884) was born in Ireland and settled in Brooklyn, N.Y. He was the editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle (known also as the Brooklyn Eagle) from 1861 until his death. He held various political offices including election to Congress in 1870 as a Democrat. Collection consists of scrapbook containing clippings, ca. 1861-1868, of articles and editorials from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle with Kinsella's manuscript comments. Topics include Brooklyn political matters, the Civil War, international affairs, and Kinsella's life and career. Criticisms of plays performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music also are included.
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General Thomas A. Davies was one of the key military leaders in the Battle of Corinth (1862), a pivotal event in the American Civil War. The Davies Papers chronicle his military career, including his participation in that notable event. Born in...
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General Thomas A. Davies was one of the key military leaders in the Battle of Corinth (1862), a pivotal event in the American Civil War. The Davies Papers chronicle his military career, including his participation in that notable event. Born in 1809, Davies graduated from the U.S. Military Academy, but resigned his commission after two years as an officer. After spending many years as an engineer and a merchant, Davies rejoined the Army in 1861, responding to the outbreak of the Civil War. Soon promoted to general, Davies was on hand at the October 1862 Battle of Corinth, under the command of General William Rosecrans. Although there were losses on both sides, the battle was ultimately a Union victory. After another promotion, Davies left the Army in 1865 and returned to his business pursuits. He wrote How to Make Money, and How to Keep It, a treatise on wealth accumulation, but his eclectic interests also led him to author several books on religion and spirituality as well. At his death in 1899, Davies was well known in military, business, and religious circles.
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John Adams Dix (1798-1879) was an American statesman who served as senator for New York, United States Postmaster General, Secretary of the Treasury, Minister to France, and Governor of New York. The papers consist of letters written by Dix in his...
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John Adams Dix (1798-1879) was an American statesman who served as senator for New York, United States Postmaster General, Secretary of the Treasury, Minister to France, and Governor of New York. The papers consist of letters written by Dix in his capacity as a Major General of the Union Army and as Secretary of the Treasury relating to official business; several brief notes to Dix from others; a proclamation by Dix to the citizens of Accomac and Northampton, Virginia, announcing the imminent arrival of the Union Army to those counties; and the transcript of a lecture given by Dix on Thomas Jefferson
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Undated manuscript by Walter S. Goss on the history of the seventh regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers, 1863-1864. Accompanied by a muster of the Army of the Potomac while under the command of Major General George B. McClellan, and chapters on...
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Undated manuscript by Walter S. Goss on the history of the seventh regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers, 1863-1864. Accompanied by a muster of the Army of the Potomac while under the command of Major General George B. McClellan, and chapters on hospital life
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Aaron Ward Weaver was a Commander in the United States Navy. These papers date from 1851 to 1887 and include orders and letters to him from Farragut, Dahlgren, Porter, and others; an order to command the captured slave ship Ardennes; an order...
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Aaron Ward Weaver was a Commander in the United States Navy. These papers date from 1851 to 1887 and include orders and letters to him from Farragut, Dahlgren, Porter, and others; an order to command the captured slave ship Ardennes; an order (October 23, 1862) from Commodore H. H. Bell for blockade of Mobile Bay; a letter (March 6, 1883) from the U. S. Consulate General in Rio de Janeiro giving brief statistics of death and disease in 1883; Weaver's record at the United States Naval Academy; and other materials
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Alfred H. Satterlee was a coin and token collector who lived in Brooklyn, New York. This diary (2 vols.), which he kept from 1860-1861, contains many references to his collecting hobby and to political and military events at the beginning of the...
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Alfred H. Satterlee was a coin and token collector who lived in Brooklyn, New York. This diary (2 vols.), which he kept from 1860-1861, contains many references to his collecting hobby and to political and military events at the beginning of the American Civil War, including the election of Abraham Lincoln, the secession of the southern states, the passing of troops through New York City, and drilling with his company, the Union Grays of Brooklyn. In the 1860 volume is a cash account and record of coins sold during the year. The first half of this 1860 volume is written in Spanish
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Caroline A. Dunstan kept these diaries (14 vols.) at her home in New York City from 1856-1857, 1859-1863, 1864, and 1865-1870. Entries describe household activities, social life, health of members of the family, references to current events,...
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Caroline A. Dunstan kept these diaries (14 vols.) at her home in New York City from 1856-1857, 1859-1863, 1864, and 1865-1870. Entries describe household activities, social life, health of members of the family, references to current events, comments on news of the American Civil War, and other topics
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Head Quarters letter book of the Confederate Army Light Infantry Division under the command of Major General Ambrose Powell Hill and Major General Henry Heth respectively (June 6, 1862-June 1, 1863). The letters relate to routine counter charges...
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Head Quarters letter book of the Confederate Army Light Infantry Division under the command of Major General Ambrose Powell Hill and Major General Henry Heth respectively (June 6, 1862-June 1, 1863). The letters relate to routine counter charges of Major Generals Hill and Heath and include letters and reports from Hill, Heth, Major R. C. Morgan, and other Confederate officers. The volume also contains two printed general orders from Adjutant and Inspector General S. Cooper (January 5 and 7, 1863)
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Darius Nash Couch was a U. S. Army officer of West Virginia and Norwalk, Connecticut. Couch's copybook, dated 1863 to 1864, contains copies of telegrams sent by Couch while in command of the Department of Susquehanna to President Lincoln, John...
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Darius Nash Couch was a U. S. Army officer of West Virginia and Norwalk, Connecticut. Couch's copybook, dated 1863 to 1864, contains copies of telegrams sent by Couch while in command of the Department of Susquehanna to President Lincoln, John Adams Dix, Henry Wager Halleck, Lew Wallace, and others
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Collection consists of McNicol's correspondence, 1911-1948, and other papers he collected relating to the history of telegraphy. Includes applications for membership, 1908-1925, in the Old Time Telegraphers' and Historical Association; collection...
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Collection consists of McNicol's correspondence, 1911-1948, and other papers he collected relating to the history of telegraphy. Includes applications for membership, 1908-1925, in the Old Time Telegraphers' and Historical Association; collection of telegraph forms, 1910-1940; official logbook, 1861, of the Washington, D.C. Telegraph Office; recording messages sent to Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York newspapers giving statistics of words sent, weather conditions, technical difficulties, and mentioning events of the Civil War; and articles, photographs, clippings, and other papers relating to the Civil War.
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These pocket diaries (2 vols.) were kept in 1863 and 1865 by Franz or Francis Eder (born Benno Wohlgemuth, at Wolfsberg in Carinthia), during which time he served as a private in the U. S. Army, Company A and Company D, 119th Regiment, New York,...
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These pocket diaries (2 vols.) were kept in 1863 and 1865 by Franz or Francis Eder (born Benno Wohlgemuth, at Wolfsberg in Carinthia), during which time he served as a private in the U. S. Army, Company A and Company D, 119th Regiment, New York, Volunteers. Eder had enlisted in New York City on June 17, 1862 and was mustered out at Louisville, Kentucky on July 10, 1865. Entries are in German, and in the reverse of the 1863 diary are the words of a soldier's song in English, along with Greek and Latin quotations
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Hannah Blaney Thacher Washburn, mother of Vermont Governor Peter Thacher Washburn, kept these diaries from 1861-1863, 1865-1867, and 1869-1870 at her home near Woodstock, Vermont. Entries include comments on social life at home; books read; church...
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Hannah Blaney Thacher Washburn, mother of Vermont Governor Peter Thacher Washburn, kept these diaries from 1861-1863, 1865-1867, and 1869-1870 at her home near Woodstock, Vermont. Entries include comments on social life at home; books read; church meetings; gardening, apple picking and drying, and other home occupations; weather and road conditions; and deaths and funerals. The diary also includes a few brief notes about Civil War events, President Grant's stopping at the local depot on August 28, 1869, and her son's death on February 7, 1870. The diaries are inscribed to Hannah M. Washburn
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Henry Clay Scott kept this diary from May 1861 through May 1863. He recorded his duties and experiences as a soldier in the 23rd New York Infantry. His service was primarily in Virginia. There are also a few entries relative to his pay and record...
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Henry Clay Scott kept this diary from May 1861 through May 1863. He recorded his duties and experiences as a soldier in the 23rd New York Infantry. His service was primarily in Virginia. There are also a few entries relative to his pay and record of service
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Levi Hayden was a marine engineer from New York City. In these diaries, he describes his service with the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron under Admiral Samuel Phillips Lee; other military actions in the United States Civil War; his work and...
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Levi Hayden was a marine engineer from New York City. In these diaries, he describes his service with the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron under Admiral Samuel Phillips Lee; other military actions in the United States Civil War; his work and travels for the firm of Morris & Cummings, New York; dredging rivers and harbors at New York harbor, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, South Carolina, and elsewhere; and of his travels on the Neva River from St. Petersburg, Russia, to its mouth, with extensive details of his life there. The diary also includes notes from Hayden's travels in England and Europe between 1883 and 1884
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Four volumes containing information on the organization, disposition, and officers of various corps, divisions, brigades, regiments, and Quartermasters Corps of the U. S. Army; pay and ration regulations; weights and measures; money exchange; and...
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Four volumes containing information on the organization, disposition, and officers of various corps, divisions, brigades, regiments, and Quartermasters Corps of the U. S. Army; pay and ration regulations; weights and measures; money exchange; and mechanical formulas. James Hardie served as Brevet Major General in the U. S. Army during the Civil War
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These papers of Brigadier General John Henry Hobart Ward of New York include various commissions to him as Commissary General of the New York Militia (1854-1857) and Colonel of the 38th Regiment, New York Volunteers (1861). Also included are...
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These papers of Brigadier General John Henry Hobart Ward of New York include various commissions to him as Commissary General of the New York Militia (1854-1857) and Colonel of the 38th Regiment, New York Volunteers (1861). Also included are letters from Governor Myron H. Clark; testimonial letters recommending General Ward for appointments; muster rolls of the field and staff officers of the 38th Regiment, New York Volunteers (1861); a report on the conduct of the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division at Bull Run on July 21, 1861; a report of the 1st Division, 3rd Corps in action at Manassas Gap on July 22-25, 1863; official army correspondence; miscellaneous personal papers; fire insurance policies; and newspaper clippings
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Letter book of the Bureau of Conscription, October 1863-February 1865, containing abstracts of letters received from enrolling officers and inhabitants of Tennessee, petitions for exemption, with abstracts of replies

Memorandum book of John T. Hawkins, 2nd Assistant Engineer, U. S. Navy, containing an "Account of the principal occurrences during the voyages of the Pensacola," U. S. sloop-of-war on which he served from September 1, 1861 to September 10, 1863;...
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Memorandum book of John T. Hawkins, 2nd Assistant Engineer, U. S. Navy, containing an "Account of the principal occurrences during the voyages of the Pensacola," U. S. sloop-of-war on which he served from September 1, 1861 to September 10, 1863; his testimony before the Congressional Committee on Steam Machinery, February 23-24, 1864, comparing general proportions of the Pensacola with those of the Iroquois and Monongahela; a comparison of the theoretical and actual performance of the engines of the Pensacola; notes on steam engineering, including notes on the U. S. S. Brooklyn, Niagara, Minnesota, Iroquois, Roanoke, Mattabessett, and U. S. gun boat Wissahickon
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Francis Smith Belton (ca. 1791-1861) was a career officer in the U.S. Army who served in the Mexican War. He was married to Harriet Kirby Belton (1798-1873); their son Winfield Scott Belton (1820-1889) fought with the Confederate Army during the...
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Francis Smith Belton (ca. 1791-1861) was a career officer in the U.S. Army who served in the Mexican War. He was married to Harriet Kirby Belton (1798-1873); their son Winfield Scott Belton (1820-1889) fought with the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Collection consists of the papers of Francis Smith Belton, Harriet Kirby Belton, Winfield Scott Belton, and members of the Dawson, Kirby and Todd families who were related to the Beltons. Papers of Francis Smith Belton, 1818-1853, include correspondence with his wife, military papers (some are copies) and an autobiography. Papers of Harriet Kirby Belton, 1829-1854, consist mainly of correspondence with her husband during the period of the Mexican War. Winfield Scott Belton's papers, 1832-1887, include correspondence with his wife relating in part to his activities during the Civil War. Kirby family papers consist of correspondence of various family members. Dawson papers, ca. 1763-1813, include correspondence of Joshua Dawson who emigrated to the U.S. from Ireland. Todd family papers, 1819-1861, contain correspondence concerning naval service and political and military events during the Mexican War. Other materials include family and legal papers, certificates of commission, 1859 log, commonplace book from 1835 to 1842, photographs of family members, clippings, and issues of various newspapers.
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Walter Lynwood Fleming (1874-1932) was professor of history at various universities in the U.S. including West Virginia University, Louisiana State University and Vanderbilt University, in addition to serving as dean of arts and sciences at...
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Walter Lynwood Fleming (1874-1932) was professor of history at various universities in the U.S. including West Virginia University, Louisiana State University and Vanderbilt University, in addition to serving as dean of arts and sciences at Louisiana State and director of graduate work at Vanderbilt. He wrote and edited numerous publications. Collection consists of correspondence, research materials, writings, photographs, and printed matter relating to Fleming's work. Topics include the U.S. Civil War and Reconstruction, Jefferson Davis, the Ku Klux Klan, African-Americans, and Louisiana history. Papers contain documents, letters, clippings, notes and photographs pertaining to Fleming's historical writings.
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